1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a method and a system of binding sensors and actuators automatically.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
In recent years, sensor networks have been widely applied in home automation and factory monitoring. The basic function of the sensor network is the activation of an actuator to perform a specific operation instruction when a sensor senses a specific value. Passing an operation instruction between the sensor and the actuator is called binding. For example, the binding between a lamp switch and a lamp comprises two operations: turning on the lamp when the lamp switch is moved to an “on” position, and turning off the lamp when the lamp switch is moved to an “off” position.
In the application of the sensor network, determining a proper method of processing a measured value of a sensor and an instruction of an actuator of the sensor network, and determining a method of establishing binding have become very important issues. Currently the methods for binding can be categorized into three types: manual binding, automatic binding, and semi-automatic binding. When the manual binding method is used, an end user or an engineer performs steps of selecting a sensor, selecting a sensor event, selecting an actuator, and selecting an actuator action. When the automatic binding method is used, a system automatically performs the steps of selecting a sensor, selecting a sensor event, selecting an actuator, and selecting an actuator action. If the automatic method is used to bind the lamp switch and the lamp, after deployment the user can directly perform the two actions of turning on the lamp by moving the lamp switch to an “on” position and turning off the lamp by moving the lamp switch to an “off” position. That is, the user is not required to perform steps of selecting the lamp switch, selecting the turning on, selecting the lamp, and selecting the turning on of the lamp. In the semi-automatic binding method, a portion of the binding process is performed by a user, and the remaining portion of the binding process is performed by a system automatically.
In the manual binding method, a system normally provides a user interface for a user to select a sensor, a sensor event, an actuator, and an actuator action. However, many steps are involved in this method, and when the number of sensors and the number of actuators are large, the user has to bind each sensor and each actuator, thereby making the process complicated. In other words, the user has to spend a lot of time before completing the binding. In some cases, binding cannot be established because the user, due to lack of knowledge, presses buttons of a sensor that is not matched to an actuator. In an existing implementation of automatic binding with a specified sensor and a specified actuator, a specific sensor event and a specific actuator action are bound according to a fixed rule. For example, when a passive infrared sensor and an alarm exist, a detection event and an alarm action are bound together. The implementation of the automatic binding has a major defect in that binding can only be established by a predefined rule. For example, a binding cannot be established between a passive infrared sensor and a lamp if there is no written rule concerning the passive infrared sensor and the lamp. Another defect of the implementation of the automatic binding is that the rule has to be updated frequently; otherwise, the binding is likely to fail. For example, if a new sensor called a human body ultrasonic sensor is added, the implementation of the automatic binding needs to design a new rule for the new sensor. In addition, a wrongly connected binding may be established when multiple sensors and actuators exist. For example, in an apartment having multiple rooms, in which each of the rooms has a lamp switch and a lamp, a lamp switch in a kitchen and a lamp in a lavatory may be bound, or a lamp switch in the lavatory and a vestibule lamp may be bound erroneously.
Among semi-automatic binding methods, two methods are usually used. In the first method, a user selects a sensor and an actuator, and a system selects a sensor event and an actuator action. In the second method, a user selects a sensor and a sensor event, and a system selects an actuator and an actuator action.
The first semi-automatic binding method has the following two operation manners. In the first operation manner, in order to require a user to first press a button of a sensor, and then press a button of an actuator, the system combines functions of the sensor and the actuator according to a preset rule. For example, the user presses a button on a lamp switch, and then presses a button on a lamp. According to the rule preset by the system, binding of a moving to an on position event of the lamp switch and a turning on action of the lamp, as well as binding of a moving to an off position event of the lamp switch and a turning off action of the lamp are established. In the second operation manner, the system provides application software of a graphical user interface for a user to select a sensor and an actuator, and the system combines functions of the sensor and the actuator according to a preset rule. For example, the user selects an icon of a lamp switch from the graphical user interface, and selects an icon of a lamp from the binding targets of the icon. After the user presses a binding button, binding of a moving to an on position event of the lamp switch and a turning on action of the lamp as well as binding of a moving to an off position event of the lamp switch and a turning off action of the lamp are established.
In the second semi-automatic binding method, a system provides a template list, a user selects a template through a user interface, and the template indirectly selects a sensor. Thus, the system automatically selects a corresponding actuator on the selected sensor according to the template. Next, the system provides a sensor event list, from which the user selects a sensor event, and the system automatically selects an actuator action according to the selected event. For example, if the user selects a weather forecast template from a list, a sensor performing weather forecast is selected indirectly, and the system can automatically select a device capable of indicating a rainy day, for example, an umbrella equipped with a light emitting diode (LED) and a music box. Next, the user selects a character event from services in the weather forecast template, and then the system can automatically select an action of switching on the LED during a rainy day instead of an action of causing the music box to make a sound.
However, when the number of the sensors and the number of the actuators is large, the semi-automatic binding method requires a complicated procedure of the user binding each of the sensors to each of the actuators, and a lot of time has to be spent before the binding can be established. There may also be cases where binding cannot be established because the user, due to lack of knowledge, presses buttons of an unmatched sensor/actuator pair. In addition, when the semi-automatic binding method is used, the template has to be updated frequently; otherwise, binding is likely to fail. Additionally, the second operation manner of the first semi-automatic binding method causes technically inexperienced users to be unable or unwilling to operate the application software.
In view of the above, the current implementation method of automatic binding suffers from lack of versatility, and may incur incorrect binding when processing multiple sensors and actuators; the operation procedure of the manual binding is complicated; and when the number of the sensors and the number of the actuators is large, the operation procedure of the semi-automatic binding is complicated.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and a system of binding sensors and actuators automatically, which can take information such as a location and an application field into consideration, so that a newly introduced device can be bound without updating the binding rule frequently. Meanwhile, the method and the system of the present disclosure can reduce the operational burden on a user when a large number of sensors and actuators are to be bound.